1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to telecommunications systems and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for monitoring blocked calls in a communication network.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, telecommunications systems provide the ability for two or more people or machines (e.g., computerized or other electronic devices) to communicate with each other. A telecommunications system may include various networks for facilitating communication that may be generally organized into packet networks and circuit-switched networks. An exemplary circuit-switched network includes a plain old telephone system (POTS), such as the publicly switched telephone network (PSTN). Exemplary packet networks include internet protocol (IP) networks, asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) networks, frame-relay networks, and the like. One type of packet network is a voice-over-internet protocol (VOIP) network.
The number of blocked calls in a communication network is an important indicator of service quality for both a provider's internal measurements, as well as for enterprise customers that may use the network for their customer's traffic (e.g., call centers). Typically, statistics related to blocked calls are determined by processing call detail records (CDRs). However, multiple CDRs are often generated for one blocked call. In addition, a number of persistent callers or automatic dialers may generate many hundreds of blocked calls. Thus, the service provider may not be able to accurately assess the true customer impact of blocked calls in the network. Accordingly, there exists a need in the art for an improved method and apparatus for monitoring blocked calls in a communication network.